Sussex Borough utility sale placed on November ballot

SUSSEX BOROUGH — In November, the decision to sell Sussex Borough’s water/sewer utility will be up to borough residents in the form of a referendum.

At Tuesday’s Borough Council meeting, the governing body adopted an ordinance establishing a referendum on the sale in a 4-2 vote, with Councilwomen Linda Masson and Annette Stendor being the dissenting votes.

Aqua America is interested in purchasing the borough’s water/sewer utility and submitted a bid of $11.38 million.

The decision followed a back and forth between council members, and between members of the public and the council.

Currently, the borough uses a rate structure based on a measurement called an equivalent dwelling unit (EDU). A flat EDU rate of $265, with $140 for water and $125 for sewer, is charged as a base fee for users. Following the flat EDU rate, customers are charged per gallon of water consumed. For the first 30,000 gallons, the charge is 1.5 cents per gallon, with 0.8 cents for water and 0.7 cents for sewer. If a customer exceeds 30,000 gallons, each additional gallon is 1.9 cents, with 1 cent charged for water and 0.9 cents for sewer.

Sussex Borough would eventually be put in line with Aqua’s current water rate structure for all customers, which is a $12.95 per month service charge and a $4.93 per thousand gallons of usage. The sewer rate fluctuates for each municipality but is around $52 a month.

“Today we all received an email from Aqua that we would not see a (rate) increase for three years,” Masson said Tuesday night, referencing the July 22 meeting when Aqua said that rates wouldn’t increase for at least three to five years.

Masson noted that Aqua was only referencing water rates when they presented their figures, as the sewer rates are contingent on the borough’s relationship with the Sussex County Municpal Utilities Authority.

Both Masson and Stendor expressed a distaste for allowing the voters to make a decision when the council does not have all the facts from Aqua yet.

Referencing a report from Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food, titled “Aqua America: Strategies of a Water Profiteer,” Masson noted said “If they take over a system that is not profitable enough for them, they will dump the system.”

Citing the report, she also stated that the company, when asking state regulators for rate increases, purposefully asks for higher rate knowing that they will not receive the amount they initially ask for.

In “Doing so, the company appears to yield to regulator concerns while actually yielding higher returns,” the report reads.

Responding to Masson’s citing of Food & Water Watch’s report, Council President Marina Krynicky said “We don’t know the validity of your information.”

“I really urge you all to look at all this information,” Masson said to the council regarding the Food & Water Watch report. “This is a for profit business.”

“I personally think our water/sewer system will be more valuable in the future,” Masson said. Further if this passes, “They (Aqua) will bombard residents with advertising” in favor of selling the utility, she said.

Debra Nicholson, an attorney for Aqua, addressed Masson’s question saying, what that means is Aqua is going to sponsor public information sessions to answer any questions the public has about the potential sale.

To the 20-plus members of the public present at Tuesday’s meeting Councilwoman Georgeanna Stoll said, “I feel that a decision like this is such a big and important decision that’s going to affect all the taxpayers, and I don’t think that six of us should have the right to make that decision ...That’s one of the reasons why we’re proposing this.”

“We were elected to make difficult decisions, so I disagree with that,” Masson responded.

Councilman Salvatora Lagattuta agreed with Masson that Aqua needs to give answers to the borough’s questions, but that can be achieved over the next four months leading up to the referendum in November.

“We’re not voting to sell it, we’re not voting to keep it,” he said. What the council is talking about tonight is “giving the people a chance to state their opinion.”

Regardless, Masson said the residents should hear both sides of the story. When buying a car one doesn’t just listen to the salesman, she said, one does further research.

Stoll encouraged the members of the public present to inform their neighbors of the borough happenings, and ask them to submit their input on the water/sewer utility question and attend future meetings regarding the issue.

During the public portion section of the meeting, a number of residents from Sussex Borough and the surrounding area addressed the council regarding the referendum ordinance.

Borough resident and former councilman Edward Meyer said that “Regardless of who owns the utility, rates will increase” eventually. The question is who will better serve the taxpayer.

He added that the measure should move forward so the public could make the decision.

Borough resident Brett Giammanco said, “Please put this up for a vote, we need to be able to voice our opinion.”

“We are a low-class to middle-class town ... any more rate increases, it’s going to sink us,” he added.

Borough resident Albert Decker chastised the council, save for Masson, for not doing their research and said, “Linda I want to thank you for doing the job that you were elected to do.”

Another borough resident and former councilman Charles Fronheiser asked the council if he could drill his own well if he didn’t want to utilize Aqua’s services.

Krynicky responded that those details with Aqua are still up in the air and need to be worked out.

While many questions remain unanswered, Krynicky said, “These water/sewer rates for the past six years have beaten us up as a community.”

“We’re just trying to fight the fight. We do need answers,” she said. “Right now I feel like we don’t have any control.”